Spa Olympic regatta

The penultimate day of SPA Olympic Classes Regatta bought challenging conditions for the race committee with 4-10 knots of breeze from varying directions yesterday.

On the Yngling course racing got underway in a fickle 5 knots of breeze. Team GBR sailors Shirley Robertson, Sarah Ayton and Sarah Webb sailed a better day finishing the first race in fourth place behind fellow Team GBR sailors Dominica Lindsey, Annie Lush and Penny Mountford, which they followed up with another fourth place. This leaves the Athens 2004 representatives lying third overall going into the final race of the regatta.

Kristin Wagner, Anna Hoell and Veronika Lochbrunner of Germany lead the fleet from the Italian trio of Giulia Conti, Alessandra Marenzi and Angela Baroni.

Team GBR sailor Nick Dempsey sailed a good day in the difficult conditions. On the Mistral course the wind was changing direction on frequent occasions and ranging in wind speed from 3-12 knots. Despite the inconsistencies in the breeze Dempsey posted two results in the top five, a fifth and a third place, which moves him up to third place overall going into the final day of the regatta. Dutch sailor Joeri Van Dijk currently leads the class from 2004 world champion Julien Bontemps of France.

Dempsey commented: “It has been really tricky racing over the last couple of days but I am pretty pleased with how I have been sailing and this is a good training event prior to our Europeans next week.”

In the women’s Mistral fleet a second and a ninth place for Team GBR sailor Natasha Sturges places her fourth overall and just two points off bronze medal position going into the final day. Jessica Crisp of Australia has taken over the lead in the class but is tied on equal points with Amelie Lux of Germany going into the final day.

Racing is equally as tight in the 34 boat Star class with just three points separating second and fifth. Today was a game of snakes and ladders on the Star course, particularly in the second race when race leaders Peter Bromby and Lee White of Bermuda slid down to 15th place as the race turned inside out.

Team GBR sailors and Athens 2004 representatives Iain Percy and Steve Mitchell scored a fifth in the first race of the day and were in a similar position in the second when they had the same misfortune as Bromby and many of the fleet sailed around them, dropping them to fifteenth place. However there is still all to play for going into the final race tomorrow as they are just one point off third place and three points away from second.

After winning the last four races, Ben Ainslie’s luck ran out in the first race of the day. Halfway around the race course the double Olympic medallist’s toe-strap broke causing him to fall out of the boat. Once back in the boat he tried to fix it whilst catching up the fleet, but unfortunately picked up his second yellow flag of the regatta and was forced to retire from the race.

The second race, with toe-strap fixed, Ainslie was back on form and scored his fifth race win of the regatta from the 1996 Olympic champion Mateusz Kusznierewicz of Poland. The days result drops Ainslie into fifth place overall but there is still all to play for tomorrow as, if one further race is sailed, a second discard will come into play.

Ainslie commented, “I was a bit unfortunate in the first race but am pleased to have come back in the second and win the race as it was certainly a very tricky day on the water.”

Today is the final day of racing at SPA Regatta with just one race scheduled for all of the eleven Olympic sailing disciplines.

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